A Horse, a Horse a Kingdom (or Two) for a Teutonic Horse

A herd of unfettered Teutonic Horse (without Knights) go rampaging across the painting (or should I say assembly) table. My motto is "four legs not bad but usually give me more painting problems than two legs". It has to be said that for the Teutonic Knights it looks to be worth all that bother.

They came as a horse in four parts: a head, a left side, a right side and a tail(I think it was separate, if not so you can reduce the count to three). These are very nice multi-pose figures from FireForge Games. I have my wargaming eye on them to be used with my "Burgundian Knights" for archaic Renaissance "Heavy Metal" type Knights that also can springboard me backwards into an earlier period (12th to 14th Century). This would be a wargaming project in embryo so to speak to be initiated at some unspecified point in the future.

Anyone had one of them before?
;)

The Knights also came in as many parts and a few more too. So if you are shy of the 'liquid poly' these figures may not be for you, but it is so the modern trend. The Knights also have to be trialled on their horses to get a fit of sensible poses.

A small amount of plastic chipping of saddles was required to get a good sensible looking fit and posture. IMHO you have got to like the look of a nice long lanced Knight figure ;)

My first pass at the Knights "en mass" waiting to be suitably "mounted". I tried to tone down the "over the top" Gothic look and used as many standard helmets as I could (my preference only, this is not meant as any sort of a critique) in an attempt to fit in with my Renaissance armies more.

To me they have that:  "I will ride down anything in my path" feel or rather attitude to life (and death).

Which I guess is bad news for the hard of hearing on a battlefield: "Did you not hear me peasant, I said get out of the way" ....

Split into two sub-units of six Knights each (see below), one "highly Gothic" (see the right hand side) the other passable as more normal(?) Knights (well until I paint them in that startling Teutonic Gothic way of Black and White contrast .. methinks this is a classic case of "the figure range leading you into a period", rather than "trying trying to find a figure range that is nice enough for a period you really like". So I have happy days (evenings) of probably 'slow painting' ahead!

My peddlers box of assembled but as yet unpainted Renaissance(ish) figures is growing. Alongside the newly acquired Twelve Teutonic Knights (the same number coincidentally as the number as the of Apostles), there is the 'mounted' HRE Charles V himself, a few Landsknecht Pikemen wandering 'lost' from a pikeblock and some Games workshop Handgunners of the old school (before they went too Fantasy for Renaissance use).

This does mean my Renaissance plastic assembly line can see "light at the end of the tunnel", with 'only' a box of Perry's Mounted Men-At-Arms (very renaissance in-period) on the shelf left to construct. Leaving me with the "Renaissance Swiss Army Project" painting to contend with in 2013. The 28mm figures (particularly used with Impetus) seem to be crying out fro a "big battle"! However I am not so sure I can resist the other offerings from FireForge Games:

• Mounted Sergeants
• Foot Sergeants
• Templar Cavalry